Trunk-fastening



7 LE. .ALEXAIQBER.

TRUNK FASTENING.

(Model.

N0. 321,779. Patented July 7, 1885.

five IZZY/l" James fliexafider NI TED STATES PATENT Trice.

JAMES H. ALEXANDER, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

TRUNK-*FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 321,779, dated July 7, 1885.

Application filed March 14, 1885. tModcl.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMES H. ALEXANDER,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trunk- Fastenings; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a face view of the fastening complete. Fig. 2 is an inside or back view of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical central section, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a detail.

My invention has relation to certain iniprovements in fastenings for the lids of trunks, such fastenings being usually applied near the ends of the trunk and lid, and has for its ebject the provision of a novel fastening which may be easily and cheaply manufactured, and which when applied to the trunk shall serve its purpose eiiiciently and constitute a durahle and reliable fastening attachment.

My invention consists in the novel construction and combination of parts having reference chiefly to, first, forming the latch-plate or holder with an open-sided or slotted pintlesocket or bearing for the reception of the latch, and in constructing the latter in the form of a rectangular skeleton or buckle shaped frame having a transversely-located pintle fitted to the socket, as hereinafter described, so that it may be inserted and displaced by a peculiar manipulation and without the employment of holding pins or studs, and having its inner' end and upper half arranged to lie back of or under the faceplate of the latch-holder and to bear against a flat spring, while its outer or lower end is adapted to engage with the lugs or hooks 011 the catch -plate; second, constructing the catch-plate with beveled lugs or catch-hooks adapted to effect an automatic engagement with the latch and to render such engagement more secure and rigid, and in providing said catch-plate with hooks on its upper and lower ends adapted to embrace the metal band encompassing the mouth of the trunk and con- 50 stitute a reliable means for holding said catchplate upon the trunk.

In the accompanying drawings, A designates the latch-holder, consisting of a metal casting recessed on its inner side for the accommodation of the flat spring a and the reception of 5 5 the upper part of the latch, and formed with eyes a for the passage of the fastening screws or rivets. The inner edges of the side flanges,

b, of the latch-holder A has lugs c c, which embrace the edges of the spring for the pur- 6o pose of rendering the same firm and strengthening its working qualities, and two other lugs, c c, which enter notches in the edge of the spring to prevent cndwise movement of the latter. 7

Upon the upper end of the latch-holder A is formed a socket, B, having a cylindrical bore 0, and slotted lengthwise in its upper side, as shown at 0. This socket receives the latch-pintle, and the latch, designated at D, consists of a slightly curved and approximately rectangular frame with a transverse and slightly offset pintle d, which is inserted in the socket from one end while the latch is inverted and outside the casing. To facilitate the insertion and removal of the pintle, the latter should be diminished in thickness at one end, so that the latter may pass through the slot e, which is narrower than the pivotal part of the pintle, so that the pintle cannot drop out or be pushed from the socket when in use. After adjusting the pintle within the socket the latch is turned over, so as to bring the part above the pintle behind the casting. The spring is then arranged to bear against this end of the latch, thus forcing the lower end inward. A beveled projection or tooth. g, is formed in the middle of the upper bar of the latch to serve as a guide in directing the latch toward the middle of the catclrplatc.

E designates the catclrplate, consisting of a casting, which, forthe purposes of one part of my invention, is formed with lugs or hooks h It, so situated as to leave space between their inner sides and the reverse face of the plate E for the metal band E of the trunk-lid. The plate E is fitted to the band F before the latter i applied to the trunk, and is made rigid by means of rivets or screws.

The inner face of plate E has an offset at i, producing the lugs i, terminating in. notches 7c, and the semi-cylindrical base above said notches. These notched lugs serve as catches to engage and hold the latch when the two are'brought together by closing the trunk-lid.

The latch normally stands in a vertical position, and when its lower end is brought in contact with the beveled lugs it is lifted thereby, the projection r passing through the V-shaped space between the lugs and guiding the latch to its place.

A longitudinal ridge is shown at m, on the under side of the pintlc-socket B, which, when the latch and catch are brought together, impinges upon the beveled edges of the lugs i and effects a pressure upon the latch, serving to render it more rigid and secure.

\Vhat I claim as my invention is as follows:

1. In a trnnl -fi1stening, the latch consisting of a skeleton frame having a transverse pintle, in combination with the catclrplate E and with the latch plate or holder having a slotted pintle-soekct, said latch and socket being adapted for connect-ion and operation, substantially as described.

2. In a trni'lk-fastening, the combination, with the catch-plate and with the latch plate or holder having a slotted socket for the reception of the latch-pintle, of a skeleton or buckle shaped latch having its pintle offset from the frame and adapted for insertion in and removal from the socket by a lengthwise movement from or toward one end, substantial] y as described.

3. The combination, with the catch-plate E and with the latch-holder A, provided with a latch-spring, a, and formed with a slotted socket, B, of the skeleton or buckle shaped latch 1), having an offset transverse pintle constructed and adapted for insertion in the socket by an endwise movement or manipulation, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the latch-holder A, having spring a, and slotted socket B, 

